News Release

The following updates are available following the Boston Marine Transport Inc., incident which took place at Mays Ship Repair at 11:22 p.m., Friday, December 14.

• The US Coast Guard, Gallagher Marine Systems, New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation and New Jersey Dept. of Environmental Protection have established a Unified Command to effectively run the response as well as deploying staff and response contractors in the field to deal with this spill.

Response personnel and other assets on scene include: 

• 51 personnel in the Unified Command
• 301 contractor personnel deploying boom and recovering spilled oil
• 47,000 feet of boom has been deployed to protect critical areas, especially Shooter’s Island.
• 29 skimmers, 12 vacuum trucks, 13 storage barges and other miscellaneous  equipment is working on the response
• To date 156,000 gallons of oil and water mixture has been recovered
• The amount of oil spilled remains under investigation.

The Unified Command has established a Joint Information Center where the public can report oiled wildlife, anyone experiencing damage as a result of the spill vessel and owners can report oiled vessels.

Please call 800-733-6175, you will be directed to the

appropriate Unified Command unit for assistance

• Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research has sent a group of wildlife experts to survey areas where birds and other wildlife could be affected. In addition, they have established a rehabilitation center to deal with any severely impacted wildlife. As of 2 p.m. today, approximately 2900 birds have been sighted in the affected area. Fifteen were observed to be slightly oiled and did not require being captured for rehabilitation. Shooter’s Island is a priority and has been boomed.

• A broadcast notice to mariners is in place advising mariners to transit the area with caution due to pollution. All waterways remain open.